Ehlers plays hero in OT

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This article was published 20/01/2024 (625 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KANATA, Ont. — In a game where scoring chances were often difficult to generate for the Winnipeg Jets, Nikolaj Ehlers found some open ice and an opportunity to attack defenceman Jakob Chychrun in a one-on-one situation.

After exploding through the neutral zone in the final minute of three-on-three overtime, Ehlers showcased his soft hands to slide the puck past Chychrun before beating Joonas Korpisalo with a sneaky backhand with 45.8 seconds left on the clock, propelling the Jets to a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators Saturday afternoon before a sellout crowd of 19,338 at Canadian Tire Centre.

“I was just trying to create some speed (by) going out of the zone again,” said Ehlers, who is up to 16 goals and 34 points in 44 games. “I thought (Chychrun) was a little bit flat-footed and I decided to just try something that I don’t really do a lot.

“I don’t know. I didn’t think he was flat-footed enough for me to just skate around him. He’s a good skater as well. He’s a really good player. Try to make him go left and quickly turn his stick and skates to create that separation and just keep the speed going. It happens so quick, sometimes you try things and they work out and luckily, they did.

“The backhands are usually hard for goalies. Sometimes we don’t know where they’re going. So the goalie doesn’t know either.”

The game-winner certainly impressed Jets defenceman Brenden Dillon, who has witnessed the type of problems that Ehlers’ speed can cause first-hand.

“Unfortunately, we see in practice against us as defencemen all the time,” said Dillon. “He’s a special player, makes special plays like that. Turning nothing, really, a simple one-on-one into an unbelievable, highlight-reel game winner.”

Jets head coach Rick Bowness sent Ehlers over the boards twice in overtime.

“When you’re playing a team that was sitting back like they were, it’s tough to get through there,” said Bowness. “So all of a sudden you get three-on-three and you get a little more open ice and you’ll notice those guys a little more — guys like Nik (Ehlers) and Vladdy (Namestnikov) and K.C. (Kyle Connor). That was just a tremendous goal by an elite skater and elite puck skills.”

The Jets, who improved to 30-10-4, continue this three-game road trip Monday night in Boston against the Bruins.

Let’s take a closer look at what transpired Saturday afternoon:

THE STREAK CONTINUES: Another day, another number added to an impressive streak that augments just how well the Jets have been defensively during a lengthy stretch of games.

By allowing just one goal Saturday, the Jets have now gone 34 consecutive games of allowing three goals or fewer and 14 games of allowing two goals or fewer.

“We’re not talking about it before games like, ‘Hey, we’ve got to keep this streak going’ or anything,” said Dillon. “We’re just dialled in on playing our game, playing Winnipeg Jets hockey.

“We’ve got enough skill and ability to score goals. But when we really lock into the defensive side of the game we’re going to create turnovers, we’re going to get our looks. We’ve just been doing that consistently for however long it’s been now.”

Although a commitment to defensive structure has been at the heart of this, Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck was leaned on heavily in this one, finishing with 34 saves.

“All the interviews I’ve done, I’ve talked about this guy and I’ve said the same thing every time,” said Ehlers. “I’m not going to say anything different. You guys can see it. That’s why you’re asking these questions every time. He’s pretty fantastic.

”There’s a reason why he’s an all-star and a Vezina Trophy winner. We gave up a lot of pretty good chances tonight and he kept us in that game.”

THE GOAL: After going through a 25-game goal-scoring drought, Jets right-winger Mason Appleton has found the net in consecutive games, moving him to eight on the season.

Appleton took a pass from Nino Niederreiter on a three-on-one rush and buried his shot to get the Jets on the board at 14:35 of the second period.

“He does so many little things well for us and is such an impactful player,” said Dillon. “Maybe not on the scoresheet every night, but we know what he brings — his forechecking ability, his skating. Another guy we always have fun in the room with.”

The Senators were stingy defensively, allowing only 29 shots in the contest — and just 13 through two periods — which made scoring off the rush all the more impressive.

“That was a big goal, clearly. One of the few mistakes they made,” said Bowness. “We get a three-on-one and we capitalize. There weren’t a lot of mistakes made by them in the first couple of periods and we had to capitalize on that.”

THE HIT: There was a scary moment for Jets centre Dominic Toninato late in the first period after he was on the receiving end of a high hit from Senators captain Brady Tkachuk.

It was a mostly innocent play until Tkachuk’s skates left the ice on the hit and he smashed Toninato’s helmet into the glass. Toninato went down the tunnel immediately for further evaluation, but came out to start the second period.

Asked for his opinion on the hit, Bowness instead chose to keep that to himself.

“No comment,” he said.

Dillon dropped the gloves with Tkachuk, with each player receiving a fighting major and Tkachuk getting the extra minor for charging.

“I honestly didn’t really see it. I more heard it,” said Dillon. “Saw (Toninato) down and just wanted to get in there for my teammate.”

THE POWER OUTAGE: The power play continues to be a talking point for the Jets, who were zero-for-4 Saturday.

Two of those man-advantages were cut short by the Jets taking penalties (though one was only cut short by five seconds and the other was cut short by 26 seconds).

Although there was some puck movement that Bowness liked on one of the power plays, it’s an area that needs further attention as the Jets approach the stretch run.

“I didn’t like the first two,” said Bowness. “The other one was good. We started to move a lot more. There was a lot more movement in the last one and we had more shots. I didn’t like the first two at all. Standing still.

“The same thing we’ve been harping at with them all the time. Standing still, not ready to shoot. But the last one in the second period was really good.”

On the flip side, the Jets were four-for-four on the penalty kill, which was another important step forward for a unit that is looking for improvement.

EXTRA, EXTRA: Mark Scheifele missed his third consecutive game with a suspected groin injury and remains on IR, so the healthy scratches for the Jets were defencemen Logan Stanley and Declan Chisholm and forward Axel Jonsson-Fjallby. St. Malo product Travis Hamonic was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game for the Senators. Hamonic has two goals and five points in 39 games with the Senators.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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